Virginia Port Authority
The Virginia Port Authority (VPA) is an autonomous
The principal facilities of the Port of Virginia are four marine terminals, all on the harbor of Hampton Roads:
- Norfolk International Terminals (NIT) at Norfolk, Virginia
- Portsmouth Marine Terminal (PMT) at Portsmouth, Virginia
- Newport News Marine Terminal (NNMT) at Newport News, Virginia
- Virginia International Gateway (VIG) at Portsmouth, Virginia
and one intermodal container transfer facility (dry port):
- Virginia Inland Port (VIP) at Front Royal, Virginia
A site on the harbor at nearby Craney Island has been identified for future expansion.
Virginia International Terminals, Inc. (VIT), the Virginia Port Authority's
Governance
As an agency of the Commonwealth, the Virginia Port Authority reports to the Virginia Secretary of Transportation. The Governor of Virginia appoints 11 citizens to form the Virginia Port Authority Board of Commissioners, and the state treasurer is an
The Board of Commissioners appoints the executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, who is responsible for overseeing the daily execution of the agency's policies, and serving as an ex officio member of VIT's Board of Directors.[2]
Economic status
The Virginia Port Authority is exempt from state and federal taxes, but as a result receives no money from the state's General Fund. Port operations are paid for using revenue generated by port activities, predominantly trade. The Port Authority does, however, receive state transportation money for capital projects, for such things as new wharfs and cranes. The agency receives 4.2 percent of the Commonwealth Transportation Trust Fund, a fund that's generated by fuel taxes, vehicle sales and use taxes, and some sales taxes. Such revenue is invested in maintaining and improving the facilities and in marketing the port to potential clients.
History
This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2012) |
This article possibly contains original research. (June 2012) |
The Virginia Port Authority had its roots in the Virginia State Ports Authority, an agency of the Commonwealth created in 1952 that was responsible for operating the port terminals in the Hampton Roads harbor. Studies commissioned by the Virginia General Assembly during the 1970s and the early 1980s suggested that the port terminals should be consolidated under a single port authority that would manage the activities of the terminals while remaining under the authority of the General Assembly. Legislation changed the name of the Virginia State Ports Authority to the Virginia Port Authority to reflect the goal of integrating the ports. Virginia Senate Bill 548 mandated that the Virginia Port Authority complete the unification as swiftly as possible. In addition, the General Assembly revised the VPA's enabling legislation to allow the agency to subordinate local port cities, towns, and other entities; to acquire federal, state, and local property; and to provide for a tariff.
The VPA purchased the terminals piecemeal. Portsmouth Marine Terminal became the first port to enter the unification program; the City of Portsmouth conveyed the port to the VPA in 1971. Later that same year, Newport News Marine Terminal (NNMT) was transferred to the VPA with the consent of its owner Peninsula Ports Authority (PPAV), its operator Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, and the cities of Hampton and Newport News. The VPA acquired Norfolk International Terminals from the City of Norfolk in 1972.
In order to manage the consolidated marine terminal operations, Virginia International Terminals, Inc. was created in 1982. VIT not only systematized operations at the VPA's facilities, but also moved cargo more efficiently and strengthened the port's marketing program.
Two pieces of legislation in the 1980s aided the development of The Port of Virginia. The first, the Transportation Trust Fund, became the source for the Commonwealth Port Fund. The Commonwealth Port Fund was created by the General Assembly from a portion of the revenue generated by transportation
The second piece of legislation was the Water Resources Act of 1986, a federal cost-sharing initiative that provided for the
In 1989, the VPA opened the Virginia Inland Port, a $10 million intermodal facility in Front Royal, Virginia. The combination truck-and-rail terminal sits near the intersection of U.S. Interstate 81 and U.S. Interstate 66 and extends the VPA's activities to Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.[4]
Norfolk International Terminals
Norfolk International Terminals is the largest of the four facilities, with a land area of 648 acres (2.62 km2). The terminal has fifty-foot-deep entrance channels at the north and south ends. The terminal is serviced by 89,300 feet (27,200 m) of rail track and 11 Suez-class
NIT was originally a surplus Army base that the City of Norfolk purchased in 1965. The city outfitted the base with a container crane and put a one-berth container facility in service in addition to the breakbulk capacity already available. A second container berth and two more container cranes were added in the early 1970s.
The Virginia Port Authority used a $12 million appropriation from the General Assembly to acquire NIT on July 1, 1972. Slightly more than half the money went to pay obligations to the city and terminal; the remainder was dedicated to purchasing a fourth container crane, extending the container berth, and improving support structures.
During the 1980s, NIT attracted the business of
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the VPA continued to expand the facilities, replace old cranes, and add new ones, until it reached its present capacity. On July 16, 2008, the three newest, and largest, cranes were delivered to the terminal.
Portsmouth Marine Terminal
Portsmouth Marine Terminal is the second largest of the four facilities, with a land area of 219 acres (0.89 km2). The terminal has a forty-five-foot-deep main channel. The terminal is serviced by 20,100 feet (6,100 m) of rail track, six
Most of PMT was built upon reclaimed land containing dredged material from the construction of the Midtown Tunnel. The terminal began, in part, as a port owned by a railroad that served Pinner's Point. The Virginia State Ports Authority purchased the facility, but in 1965 leased a portion of it to the City of Portsmouth. Funds from the General Assembly and the city paid for a temporary pier.
By 1971, PMT had developed into a conventional two-berth general cargo marine terminal. In that year, the VPA bought Portsmouth's interest in the facility for approximately $7,418,000.
In 1975, an agreement between the VPA and Portsmouth allowed
During the early 1990s PMT received another high-speed container crane and a dock extension that joined the existing 600-foot (180 m) marginal wharf at the Sea-Land facility with the marginal wharf at the VPA's facility.[4]
Newport News Marine Terminal
Newport News Marine Terminal is the smallest of the four facilities, with a land area of 140.64 acres (0.5691 km2). The terminal has a forty-five-foot-deep main channel. The terminal is serviced by 42,720 feet (13,020 m) of rail track and four
Prior to the beginning of port unification in 1971, the Peninsula Ports Authority of Virginia (PPAV) owned the terminal and Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (now CSX) operated it. In the late 1960s, Pier B entered service and construction of Pier C began. When, in 1971, the PPAV and Chesapeake and Ohio Railway conveyed their rights to NNMT to the VPA, Pier C had not yet been completed. One of the requirements of the contract stipulated that the VPA had to obtain state funding to finish the project. In 1972, the General Assembly appropriated the necessary funds.
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway remained the operator of NNMT until 1982, when the VPA Board of Commissioners authorized VIT to take over the operations. In 1983, the VPA purchased 22 acres (89,000 m2) of land adjacent to NNMT from CSX, then leased the land back to the railway company for two years while it built a repair along its tracks.
In the 1990s, NNMT received a $10 million entrance complex, an interchange, scales, an administration building, 27 acres (110,000 m2) of paved cargo space, and an extension to Pier C. In 1994, the
Virginia Inland Port
The Virginia Inland Port, located in Front Royal, Virginia, is the second smallest of the four facilities, with a land area of 161 acres (0.65 km2). The terminal is serviced by 17,820 feet (5,430 m) of rail track that runs adjacent to Norfolk Southern Railway's main rail line. VIP is accessible via Interstates 66 and 81.
The $10 million
Virginia International Gateway (VIG)
In 2010, the VPA entered into a 20-year lease agreement with Netherlands-based
In August 2014, the sale of APM Terminals Virginia, in Portsmouth, was finalized. The 576-acre, highly automated container terminal was purchased by Alinda Capital Partners, a U.S. infrastructure investment firm, and Universities Superannuation Scheme Ltd., a pension fund based in the United Kingdom. Alinda and the VPA signed a 49-year lease in 2016, under which the VPA operates the terminal.[9]
Future
This article possibly contains original research. (June 2012) |
VPA appears to be making preparations to take advantage of the future traffic potential of marine cargo container traffic in an ever-increasingly global market. The capacity expansion at Norfolk International Terminal, the 20-year lease of the APTM Virginia terminal facilities at Portsmouth and the planning and initial stages of the Craney Island terminal project all are complementary to what others are doing and how various investments are being made in transportation infrastructure improvements. Other entities doing so include the U.S. federal government, other Virginia agencies, other states and their respective local agencies (i.e.
Double stack intermodal with railroads
East coast ports from Wilmington,
and is bound for the eastern 1/3 of the United States. Most containers are then transferred to railroads, and then transported generally as close as possible to final destinations, where they are then moved onto trucks for the final portion of their journeys.As this volume has increased in recent years, it has become increasingly clear that there was a need for improved intermodal transfer facilities, both at the ports, and near the final destinations.
Commonwealth Railway relocation
To serve more volume with greater safety, Virginia recently entered the final completion stages of relocating the eastern portion of a
2014: Panama Canal traffic
In 2014, the
By using the canal and east coast ports, potentially a lot of shipping expense for the rail portion to destinations can be saved. However, keys to shipping via the western versus eastern ports are facilities at the ports, better rail links inland, shipping times, and costs.
VPA's recent lease of the massive APTM intermodal terminal at Portsmouth and its capacity expansion at the Norfolk International Terminal both help Virginia to be positioned favorably, as do the move of the local railroad line, and the planning for even more capacity at Craney Island.
Currently, according to Trains magazine,[15] Hampton Roads and Baltimore are the only ones on the U.S. East Coast which can already handle the greater draft (channel depth) of 50–55 feet and height clearance (approximately 50 feet) which are needed for the larger ships that would begin coming through the widened canal. In the Spring of 2010, Norfolk Southern had almost completed the Heartland Corridor project[16] and work on CSX's National Gateway was well underway. Officials in Ohio had already celebrated groundbreaking for the intermodal yard expansions by both railroads.[17]
Virginia Port Authority Police Department
The Virginia Port Authority maintains its own
See also
References
- ^ "APM's bid for ports harms competition, rivals say". The Virginian Pilot, June 15, 2012, Robert McCabe.
- ^ a b c Code of Virginia 1950 §62.1-129. Retrieved 30 July 2008.
- ^ "Virginia Port Authority Board Structure." Feb 2002.
- ^ a b c d e The Virginia Port Authority. "A History of Port Development, Port Growth, and Port Investment." 1995.
- ^ The Virginia Port Authority. "Norfolk International Terminals Cranes and Specifications." 2007.
- ^ The Virginia Port Authority. "Portsmouth Marine Terminal Cranes and Specifications." 2007.
- ^ The Virginia Port Authority. "Newport News Marine Terminal Cranes and Specifications." 2007.
- ^ "Virginia Port Authority Signs APMT Terminal Lease". www.joc.com. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
- ^ "Virginia International Gateway (VIG)". Port of Virginia. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
- ^ a b "High-speed railroading". The Economist. 22 July 2010.
- ^ "Media Contacts". Norfolk Southern. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
- ^ "National Gateway". Archived from the original on 2008-08-20. Retrieved 2008-05-17.
- ^ "NS Extends Intermodal Heartland Corridor in Ohio". Joc.com. 2010-06-23. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "YOU'VE BEEN STOPPED BY A 404! - Trains Magazine". TrainsMag.com. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
- ^ "Intermodal". Norfolk Southern. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)